


Freeing

by BloodStainsBlue



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: But I hate Snow and Serah as a pairing, Cheating, F/M, I like Snow a lot, I promise I don't hate Snow, Loss of Virginity, just a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:31:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodStainsBlue/pseuds/BloodStainsBlue
Summary: For the first time in five years, Snow is completely gone from her mind, and it feels so freeing.





	Freeing

            It curls low in her belly, like a kitten settling in for a nap, this feeling that’s becoming more and more familiar as the weeks drag on. She used to wonder where Lightning got all of the _energy_ to be so mad all of the time, but now she was realizing that it wasn’t so hard once you got used to it. You just started devoting _less_ energy to everything else, like sadness or happiness or love.

            She sits on the demolished pillar, lets dust gather on her white dress as she moves her engagement necklace back and forth between her fingers, wondering what the _point_ of it even is.

            Noel comes back from the stone railing he’d been leaning over, scanning the dingy horizon for _some_ reason that they’d been sent here, but it seemed that he’d found nothing. “Ready to go?” he asks, crossing his arms as he looks down at her.

            “Not yet. Give me just a few more minutes,” she whispers, turning the necklace again like maybe the answer is hiding from her if she could only find the right spot.

            Noel sighs and nods, his leg pressed against Serah’s as he flops next to her. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

            “Nothing! Why would you think something’s wrong?” The answer comes out quickly, but her gaze finally lifts from the crystal pendant.

            “You sounded different. Like Lightning,” Noel answers, unflinching.

            Serah’s fist clenches around the pendant and she whispers, “I just don’t understand… me and Snow have been engaged for four years now. Doesn’t that seem like a long time to you?”

            Noel looks thoughtful and shrugs. “I don’t know. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who was engaged to be married,” he points out, asking, “ _Is_ it a long time?”

            “Yes,” Serah answers with a sigh. “And he’s not even _carrying_ his necklace. Like _I’m_ the only one who’s on hold.”

            “And that bothers you?” Noel asks again, and Serah nods.

            “He’s changed. He was different when I’d awoken from the crystal, and now he’s different _again_. He’s not the man I said I would marry four years ago.”

            “People change. It’s what makes us human,” Noel points out. “You’re changing every day.”

            “For the better, I hope,” Serah says, looking at Noel with a small smile.

            He nods. “Yeah. You’re stronger now. Not just physically, but emotionally, too. You’re growing up.”

            Serah nods and looks down at the ground with a growing smile, her cheekbones matching the color of her hair. “I think Snow sees that. I don’t know if he likes it,” she whispers, letting the charm fall out of her hand, one finger linked in the chain the only thing keeping it from falling to the floor.

            “Yeah,” Noel agrees, his eyes closely trained on Serah’s face, too closely, but Serah’s gotten used to that, the lack of personal space and struggle to understand social cues that comes from being the last human born.

            “You don’t like Snow, you said,” Serah whispers.

            “You know I don’t.”

            “Why?”

            Noel sighs and glances away, like if he doesn’t speak the words _at_ Serah she won’t be as angry. “Because he’s an idiot. He wants to be a hero so badly, that he’ll leave behind anyone and everyone. It’s selfish and is going to get him killed. I told you that.”

            “But there’s more to it, isn’t there?” Serah presses.

            Noel sighs again, deeper, and braces his hand against his knee. “He doesn’t respect you. He wants to be your hero so badly. For him to be a hero…”

            “I have to be a victim. I can’t be able to fight or stand up for myself,” Serah finishes, and she knows Noel is right. She remembers Snow callously shoving her out of the way of the giant flan, only letting her fight when Noel insisted that she could.

            She twirls the chain between her middle and ring finger, the crystal cocoon precariously dangling and shaking. “I used to like that—that’s what drew me to him. But now… I’m tired of sitting back and being useless. I’m sick of people putting themselves in danger for me. _I_ want to be fighting, too.”

            “And you are. And you’re doing great,” Noel whispers, bringing his hand up and resting it on Serah’s shoulder. “I bet Lightning’s watching you with so much pride.”

            “And you?” Serah asks, glancing over at Noel with large, searching eyes.

            “I’m proud of you, too. You’re a great partner to have around.”

            Serah almost feels like she’s going to cry, the feeling in her stomach uncurling and stretching, soaring through her limbs and speeding up her heart, warming her face and body. She leans over and presses a kiss to Noel’s cheek, and when he turns his head to question her, she captures his lips in her own.

            This has been coming for a while, she realizes, since Noel first handed her that bow and told her to stand up and fight. He was the first person to _ever_ put such faith in her. The first person who didn’t try to lock her away as Lightning had done for so many years, or temper her will the way Snow had. But she’d always been pushing it down for him—no—for the cold weight of that necklace braced around her neck like the weight of Cocoon itself.

            Noel’s lips are stiff and clumsy against her own, and when she rests her hand on his chest she can feel that his heartbeat is erratic—she thinks that this is probably his first kiss, or at least his first kiss like _this,_ as she slides her tongue into his mouth and claims it as her own.

            He pulls away with wide pupils and heavy breathing, and he looks up at her with eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Wha—?”

            “C’mon, I know I’m not _that_ bad,” Serah whispered, and Noel quickly shook his head.

            “No, no, you’re not, just… I’ve never… what about…?”

            “Don’t. I’ll think about that later. Just… just us, right now, okay?”

            Noel nods and the pendant drops to the floor as she crawls onto his lap.

            He’s not as big as Snow was, but she doesn’t care about that. She feels so much power as she slides down onto him, and she knows she could do anything right now—she could pull away and leave him whimpering and begging if she wanted to, or keep going until he’s crying and filling her three times over.

            He tightly grips her hips, and she feels the beginnings of bruises on her skin, bruises that will be easily seen through the holes on the sides of her dress, bruises that tell her that this is the best thing he’s ever felt— _she’s_ the best thing he’d ever felt.

            It reminded her of herself five years ago, lying under Snow as he slowly pushed into her, whispering in her ear that it was all going to be okay, “deep breaths, Serah, I know you can do it.”

            Now _she’s_ the one introducing someone else to this, and the power is intoxicating.

            He fills her up with a groan and buries his face in her chest, and she tightly grips his hair as she keeps going, brings her gloved hand down and rubs her clit until she’s tightening around him and whispering his name over and over like a mantra.

            For the first time in five years, Snow is completely gone from her mind, and it feels so freeing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm replaying FFXIII-2 and I'm recovering the old bitterness that was in my heart for a long time because Serah and Noel aren't canon! I shipped them really, embarrassingly hard. So you can all have this!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Comment, kudos, concrit, visit me on Tumblr! 
> 
> Muah! <3


End file.
